WASHINGTON — Companies that are developing small launch vehicles or who provide rideshare launch services say they expect new Chinese launch vehicles to drive down launch prices, raising concerns among some of unfair competition. During a panel discussion at the Satellite 2018 conference here March 12, executives of several launch providers said they expected small launchers under development or entering service in China, either by state-owned enterprises or private ventures, to sharply reduce launch prices in the coming years. “I think the Chinese are going to drive an order of…

WASHINGTON — Spaceflight Industries announced March 13 that it has raised $150 million to fund development of the next phase of its BlackSky Earth imaging constellation, with Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio taking minority stakes. At a press conference during Satellite 2018 here, Seattle-based Spaceflight said the Series C round, which includes investment from Mitsui and Co. Ltd. and existing investors, will fund development of the next set of 20 BlackSky satellites, part of an ultimate constellation of 60 satellites intended to provide high-resolution images with rapid revisit times. The…

WASHINGTON — The launch of several cubesats by an American company without authorization from a federal agency has the rest of the industry worried of a potential regulatory and public relations backlash. IEEE Spectrum first reported March 10 that Swarm Technologies, a Silicon Valley-based startup operating in stealth mode, flew four picosatellites as secondary payloads on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle in January. The SpaceBee satellites were identified in materials by the Indian space agency at the time as “two-way satellite communications and data relay” satellites, but did not…

WASHINGTON — Spaceflight Industries said March 6 that the first operational satellite for its BlackSky Earth imaging constellation is now complete and awaiting launch later this year. The 55-kilogram Global-1 satellite is the first of four satellites, each capable of producing imagery at a resolution of one meter, that Spaceflight plans to launch in the next year on U.S. and foreign vehicles, although the company did not disclose specific launch plans. The Global satellites build upon a demonstration satellite, Pathfinder, launched in September 2016. The BlackSky Global-1 satellite. Credit: Spaceflight…